Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 13: The Homecoming
by SatNavDan
Summary: Thunderbirds set in an alternate universe with different characters. A space-capsule lands on Earth having been missing for five years and inside is Kaylee Adams's father. Daniel works with the GDF to reunite the pair, but the man behind the project arrives to take back what's his. Guest starring Lex Luthor from the Superman world. I do not own any of these characters.
1. Pre-Titles

THE winter months of 2069 were the most dull that Laura had ever known. Not surprisingly really due to her being confined to Tracy Island whilst the broken bones in her body slowly healed. The fracture in her right arm healed a lot more quickly than she'd originally thought - five weeks to be exact, although Wizzy's left arm somehow managed to heal in three weeks, all thanks to Rosie's advanced healing potions. Laura's legs however were taking as long as Rosie had predicted. It had been August when the incident at the mine in the South of France had happened, and now they were in October. Laura's legs were healing, but Rosie was still not satisfied that she could attempt to walk again, even with crutches, so poor Laura found herself in an electronic wheelchair created by Jodie. Daniel, Jodie and Rosie knew however that Laura was getting very down in the dumps and they were beginning to worry that she might start to suffer from depression. So they devised a plan.

Laura woke up and was helped into her wheelchair by Joanne. She and Laura had become very close over the past couple of months for Joanne and Zoë had made it their duty to make sure Laura was kept as comfortable as possible. Laura was grateful for this, but secretly she hated being waited on.

"Morning, sweetie," said Joanne as she helped Laura out of the bed and into the wheelchair.

"Morning, Jo," Laura replied sleepily. "Are the others at home?"

"Yes, no rescues so far today," said Joanne. "Let us hope there aren't."

Laura wasn't quite sure what Joanne meant, but she soon found out when they arrived in the lounge and found everyone waiting for them. The room was decorated with balloons and streamers and a huge pile of presents sat in the middle of the lounge.

Then everyone burst into song. "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Laura! Happy Birthday to you!"

Laura's face broke into the biggest smile they'd seen her make for weeks. "Awh, guys!" she cried happily. "Do you know I'd forgotten!"

"You?! Forget your own birthday?!" exclaimed Katie, grinning. "Shame on you!"

Everyone laughed, including Laura. Daniel gave his eldest daughter a kiss on the head before guiding her to the presents. "Go ahead," he said, smiling.

Laura proceeded to open the presents. There were some books, reading and colouring ones. Some crayons and colouring pencils. There was a new wristwatch, with all the modifications that Jodie made for them and much more. This was way more than Laura was used to getting but she guessed they had all agreed to spoil her due to her current condition.

"Thank you, everyone," said Laura. "I may not be able to do much at the moment, but you have all managed to cheer me up."

"Actually, Laura, that's not quite everything," said Jodie. She went round to Daniel's desk and revealed two strange-looking objects that appeared to be the same length as Laura's legs.

Before Laura knew what was happening, Daniel and Rosie had got her by the arms and lifted her up out of the wheelchair. "Hey, what goes on?" Laura asked, surprised. She looked down as Jodie placed the two objects under her feet. They then closed themselves around Laura's legs and Daniel and Rosie let go. Laura gasped. She was standing for the first time since the incident. "I…I can stand!" she gasped.

"Can you walk?" asked Cassidy eagerly.

Judging by their reactions, Laura could tell that the others didn't know about this either. She looked at Daniel and Jodie.

"Go on then," said Daniel. "See if you can do a lap of the room."

"Carefully though," added Rosie.

Laura trembled slightly. Her left leg moved forwards, then the right leg moved.

"That's it, you're doing it!" said Jodie, delightedly.

Laura went a little bit more quickly, but not too quickly. Everyone watched in delight as she made her way around the lounge, and she didn't stumble once.

Kerry then appeared on the holoscreen linked to her portrait. "Morning, everyone," she said. "How are we all?"

"Morning, Kerry!" the other replied.

"Kerry, look!" said Wizzy excitedly, pointing at Laura.

Kerry looked and saw Laura standing beside her image. "Laura!" she said. "Happy Birthday and...OH!" she gasped when she realised Laura was standing. "You're walking again!"

Laura beamed. "Not on my own yet," she said. "But Jodie's given me these supporters to keep me going until they're fully healed."

"Fantastic," said Kerry. "Did you get my present?"

"Yes, I did," said Laura. "Thank you, Kerry."

Kerry smiled. "I'll be down later for your party dinner," she said. "See you later."

As Kerry signed off, Laura turned back to the others. "Say, Dad, does this mean I can come back on missions?"

There was a brief moment of silence as Daniel, Jodie and Rosie pondered the matter. It was really Rosie's call being the medical officer.

"I don't see why you couldn't," said Daniel. "Although, I wouldn't be comfortable with you doing any groundwork just yet."

"Maybe she could just fly Thunderbird 1 and observe?" suggested Adrienne. "After all, she doesn't need her legs to fly her ship."

"That is true," said Jodie. "I'd need to modify the uniform attacher arms so that they can work around the supporters."

Everyone then looked at Rosie. "I suppose that can be done," she said. "However, Laura, I think you should give it a week to get used to those supporters before we make a final decision."

Laura nodded. "That's fair enough," she said. "Thank you."

"How does it feel?" asked Beth.

Laura started walking around the room again, a lot more confidently than she did before. "I feel awesome!" she said happily. "I feel ready to take on an entire army of aliens!"

Everyone burst out laughing, but then Kerry called in again, and this time she looked deadly serious about something. "Guys, we have a situation!" she said. "Unidentified object entering Earth's atmosphere!"

The smiles vanished instantly. "HUH?!" they all exclaimed at the same time.


	2. Act I

KERRY produced a big hologram map of the Earth and pointed everyone towards a mysterious signal that was clearly heading towards the planet.

"What is that?" asked Katie.

"No idea," Kerry replied. "It's not a signal we've ever detected before."

"Aliens?" asked Sian. "Cool!"

"Sian, there's no such thing as aliens!" scoffed Joanne.

"It's not just us who have picked it up either," Kerry went on. "Every Tracking Station has detected it. Russia, China and even the United States have given orders to bring their nuclear weapons out of cold storage in case whatever it is turns out to be hostile."

"What about the GDF?" asked Daniel.

Before Kerry could reply, Colonel Casey appeared on another hologram screen. "Ah, guys, morning," she said. "I see you have detected our mystery visitor as well then?"

"Kerry's just informed us some of the big governments are prepping their old nuclear arms," Daniel said.

"Yes, Daniel, I know," said Colonel Casey. "Which is why I intend to make sure they don't jump to conclusions. If I can talk them down, could you go and investigate this mysterious object?"

"A peaceful organisation with neutrality to all countries?" said Daniel. "Okay, Martha. We will do so."

"Good, but be careful," said Colonel Casey. "I'll have a couple of GDF flyers standing by just in case things go south. Good luck."

As Colonel Casey signed off, Daniel turned to the others. "Okay, girls, you heard her. Let's, er, go see what's what. Kerry, continue to track the object and see if you can pinpoint roughly where it is going to land."

"Already done," Kerry said. "At its current trajectory, it's heading for the Arctic Circle."

"Ski-pods?" Katie said to Daniel.

"Perhaps, yes," said Daniel. "Beth, launch Thunderbird 1. Locate the object and follow it at a safe distance to its landing point. Then wait for us."

"Got it, Dad," said Beth.

"Katie, Rosie, Leanna, Wizzy, Cassidy and Sian, we'll go in Thunderbird 2 and offer what assistance we can."

"Can I come, too?" asked Jodie. "This might be better if I see it close-up."

"Sure," said Daniel. "Okay, let's go."

"Wait, what about me?" asked Adrienne.

"Sorry, Adie, but I have a hunch," said Daniel. "And if I'm correct, then I'll have a special job for you."

"Oh, okay then," said Adrienne, sounding a little disappointed. Laura felt the same, but she knew that asking would be pointless due to her condition so she kept quiet.

The team split up with Beth hurrying over to the revolving wall panel that led to the revolving elevator that would take her down to Thunderbird 1. After having turned through the wall and standing on the elevator, robotic arms attached her uniform to her as it went down. Jodie had had Beth's spare uniform placed in the elevator rather than Laura's. At the same time, Katie, Leanna, Wizzy, Sian, Cassidy, Rosie and Jodie hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leant back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Beth was now in her uniform and being carried out on a retractable walkway to Thunderbird 1. She sat down in the seat which was then moved inside before the hatchway sealed. The trolley that Thunderbird 1 stood on began to move taking Thunderbird 1 up the diagonal tunnel towards its launching bay under the swimming pool. Daniel then reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 2 on the computer. The pod conveyor activated moving Pod 1 underneath. Once Pod 2 was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna, Cassidy, Sian, Jodie and Rosie had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Up by the house, the swimming pool was opening up ready for Thunderbird 1 which was just coming into position on the launch pad. Thunderbird 2 was now on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded into position and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines. The two ships were ready to launch.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 1 fired and it lifted up off the launch ramp, though the gap where the swimming pool had been before climbing high into the night sky above Tracy Island. Thunderbird 2's own engines fired and it lifted up off the ramp to join its sister-ship.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as the two ships headed North towards the Arctic Circle.

Laura and Adrienne stood by the windows in the lounge and watched as the Thunderbirds disappeared into the distance. Laura still had this feeling of envy knowing that it wasn't her piloting Thunderbird 1, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. The only comfort she had right now was the warbling noise of MAX.

"What did he mean by hunch?" Adrienne asked.

"I don't know," Laura replied. "I guess you'll find out when he knows for sure."

Aboard Thunderbird 2, Daniel was already taking steps to try and learn whether his hunch was right or not. "Kerry, when you get a moment, do you think you could try and track the course of the object and find out where it came from?"

"Now that's a challenge if ever I heard one!" Kerry remarked. "Okay, Daniel, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Kerry," said Daniel and signed off.

"Would that have something to do with your hunch?" Katie asked.

Daniel nodded. "This object whatever it is has to have come from somewhere," Daniel said. "I'd like to know where that is if possible."

"And if proven, you'll send Adie and Thunderbird 3 out to investigate?" asked Leanna.

"Indeed," said Daniel.

Just then Beth interrupted. "Thunderbird 2, I'm approaching the area now," she said. "It has made it through the stratosphere and appears to have slowed down."

"Slowed down?" asked Cassidy. The others except for Daniel and Katie leant forwards eagerly.

"Alien spaceship," murmured Sian.

"Do you have a visual yet, Beth?" Jodie asked.

"Negative," Beth replied. "No, wait! I do! Blimey!"

"How big is it?" asked Daniel.

"Not very actually," Beth replied. "At a guess, it can't be much bigger than Thunderbird 4."

Everyone was surprised. "That's…unexpected!" remarked Wizzy.

"And I can see why it's slowed its descent," Beth went on. "It's deployed a parachute."

"Parachute?" said Katie. "What kind of spaceship has a parachute?"

"Beth, can you get us an image?" Jodie asked. "I need to see this."

"Coming at you now," said Beth. She pressed a button which sent the video from her screen to Thunderbird 2.

The crew of Thunderbird 2 stared at it in disbelief. It was definitely small. It was a cone-like shape larger down the base but without the pointy bit at the top. The bottom section was painted grey, the middle section was white and the top section was red, and like Beth had said, it had deployed a large red and white parachute and was slowly dropping down towards the icy terrain of the Arctic Circle below.

"Gosh!" exclaimed Rosie. "That looks odd."

"That's no alien spaceship!" said Jodie. "Unless I'm very much mistaken, that's an escape capsule!"

"An escape capsule?" repeated Beth. "But from where?"

"Thunderbird 5, did you get that?" asked Daniel.

"Certainly did, Thunderbird 2," answered Kerry. "I'm seeing the images now. It's an escape capsule all right - and one out of the history books!"

"Any luck with tracking its route?" Daniel asked. "If this really is an escape pod then there must be a ship out there where it would've come from."

"No luck so far but I'll keep looking," Kerry said. "Goodness knows where it could've come from though - no spaceship has used one of those pods since…well I'm not even sure."

"No, I'm not sure either," agreed Jodie. "This is certainly a mystery."

Beth watched from Thunderbird 1 as the capsule got nearer to the ground. When it was less than one-hundred metres above it deployed its legs before landing gently on the ice. "It's landed!" Beth said.

"What's the terrain like, Beth?" asked Katie.

"Rough," Beth replied. "There's an area about fifty yards away where I can put Thunderbird 1 down. However, I can't see anywhere for Thunderbird 2 to land. I'll have a scout around for you."

"No need, Thunderbird 1," Kerry interrupted. "I found a landing spot for you, Thunderbird 2 - about ten miles to the south. You'll have to land there and continue the rest of the way in the Ski-pods."

"Good thing we brought Pod 2 then," Katie said to Daniel.

Daniel nodded. "Indeed," he said. "Thanks, Thunderbird 5. See you soon, Thunderbird 1. And Beth?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"Approach with caution and don't try anything until we get there," Daniel warned.

"F-A-B," Beth said. "I'll be waiting."

Beth brought Thunderbird 1 over the area safe to land on. She lowered the landing legs and brought the craft gently down into land. She then put on her helmet and the seat lowered her down. She stepped out and walked cautiously towards the capsule. It sat there silent and still. Beth armed her pistol just in case something unexpected were to come out. She used the scanner in her helmet's visor to check inside, but it wasn't detecting any life signs inside. All she could see were a number of strange-looking containers with three tall ones in the middle. Beth wasn't sure what they were but knew she would have to wait before she could find that out. "What are you?" Beth asked out loud. "Where did you come from?" She walked right up to the capsule and started to check around the sides. It was in remarkable condition, like a toy that was fresh out of its packaging. There was no dirt or rust anywhere, although some frost was developing on the hull covering up some of the markings. Beth wiped away some of the frost and found what looked like a name - _Endeavour II_. Beth frowned. "Why does that name sound familiar?" she asked herself.

Thunderbird 2 had reached the landing area given by Thunderbird 5. Katie guided the great green goliath down and landed safely on the thick ice flat. Everyone then went down into Pod 2 and began to assemble the Interchangeable Pods giving them crawler tracks for grip and skies at the fronts. It was lucky that there were four pods inside as they just had enough for everyone aboard. Once assembled, the main body of Thunderbird 2 lifted clear of Pod 2 and the door opened to enable the vehicles to drive out.

"Pod Explorers are go!" said Daniel. He and Jodie were in the lead vehicle. They were followed by Katie with Rosie in the second. Wizzy and Sian in the third and finally Leanna and Cassidy in the fourth. Once the last Ski-pod was clear, the door of Pod 2 closed up again to protect the inside from the weather whilst the rest of Thunderbird 2 went into 'lock-down' sentry mode to protect it from anyone who would try and gain access - not that there was anyone in the area apart from them.

As they made their way across the ice towards where the capsule had landed, Kerry called them, Beth and Tracy Island to reveal some news. "Guys, I might have something," said Kerry. "I have been able to trace the course that the capsule was on and it appears to have originated from somewhere near Jupiter."

"Wow, that's a long way!" said Daniel. "Any signs of a ship?"

"No, nothing," said Kerry. "Which is strange seeing as this is an escape capsule. There must have been something out there."

Beth decided to mention what she'd found. "I might have found a clue to that," she said. "I found a name on the side of the capsule - _Endeavour II_. Does that mean anything to anyone?"

This didn't mean a thing to Rosie, Leanna, Sian, Cassidy or her sisters, but Daniel, Kerry and Jodie looked at each other in shock.

"I'll say it does!" said Daniel. "That was the Jupiter mission!"

"It disappeared three months after launch," said Jodie. "That was exactly ten years ago this year!"

"And you know who the commander was, don't you?" said Kerry gravely.

"Yes," said Daniel. "Kevin Adams."

"Adams?" asked Katie. "Wait, is that?"

"Yes, Katie," said Daniel. "Kaylee's father!"


	3. Act II

A shocked silence filled the members of International Rescue.

Kerry broke the silence by speaking to Katrina. Kaylee was currently off duty but she felt she needed to know. "Can you go and get her please?"

"Sure," said Katrina and she left the control room. Kelly and Becky didn't say anything. They had a feeling that this wasn't going to go well.

Beth looked round when she heard the sound of vehicle engines and saw the four Ski-pods approaching. She came over to greet them.

"Where did you see this name?" Daniel asked once they'd all disembarked.

"Round the side here," Beth said leading them round to the side of the capsule.

"This can't be right," said Jodie looking at the name. "These things weren't designed to last more than a few months in space. If launched they send out a distress signal to lead a rescue team right to them."

"Guessing it didn't work," said Daniel walking round the capsule inspecting it closely. "But ten years? Something is definitely not right."

"Who funded the project?" asked Leanna.

"A man by the name of Lex Luthor," replied Jodie.

"Oh, him!" remarked Beth. "He's a bit of a shady character, isn't he?"

"Rather like The Hood," joked Wizzy.

"The brothers bald!" Daniel said with a chuckle. "Put them both in smart suits and you'd never know the difference."

"I did a scan after I landed," Beth said. "I couldn't detect any life signs inside but there are some kind of containers."

"Maybe it got launched by accident," said Daniel. "However, I'm not going to open the door until Kaylee confirms that this is really from her father's ship."

At that moment, Kerry spoke again. "Daniel, she's here."

Katrina brought Kaylee into the control room. She was looking sleepy and a bit confused. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Hello, Kaylee," said Daniel. "I'm sorry to bring back bad memories for you, but did your father ever show you the inside of his ship?"

Kaylee blinked in surprise. "Yes, he did. Why?" she asked.

Daniel moved so that Kaylee could see the capsule. "Was that part of it?" he asked.

Kaylee's face went white. She started backing away when she saw the name on the side of the capsule. "Oh, my God!" she gasped and then sprinted out of the room.

"I'm…guessing that's a yes," said Becky awkwardly.

"Then that's all I needed to know," said Daniel. "Kerry, I know this isn't going to be easy for her, but try and comfort her the best you can, please."

"Yes, Daniel," said Kerry. "Take over for me, Katrina. I'm going to talk to her."

"F-A-B," said Katrina and Kerry left the room.

Daniel then spoke to Adrienne. "Adie, I trust you heard all of this?"

"I certainly have, Dad," Adrienne replied. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes," said Daniel. "Katrina, can you send the tracked route that Kerry found and send it to Thunderbird 3's navigational computer. Adie, I'd like you to follow that route and see where it takes you. It might just result in nothing, but something must've caused this capsule to eject from the ship. There could well be an answer that's been waiting for ten years."

"I'm on it," said Adrienne. "Should I take Laura as my co-pilot?"

"I don't see why not," Daniel replied. "Or is Karolina there?"

"I'm here," Karolina said having just walked into the lounge.

"Ah, good," said Daniel. "You may need an extra pair of hands. Take them both with you, Adie."

"F-A-B!" said Adrienne. Now she and Laura didn't feel left out of the mission after all. They sat down on the sofa whilst Karolina went off to change into her uniform. Once they'd sat down, the chairs began to descend into the floor. The gap was soon filled by two spare chairs so that there wasn't a huge gap left in the floor. After reaching a tunnel below the mansion, they were transferred a short distance on a trolley before being turned to face forwards. The chairs then split up as they travelled through two separate tunnels where robot arms helped them into their uniforms. The chairs were also turned around so that they re-joined the main tunnel facing backwards. They soon reached the very tall silo where Thunderbird 3 was located and a big yellow robot arm lifted them up to a hatch located just down from the nose cone. Once that had connected the rails inside, the chairs travelled forwards into the cockpit. The angle changed as they were now facing upwards in the direction of travel. The hatch was sealed and the giant revolving blast door sealed off all access to the silo and the big door at the top under the library roundhouse was opened ready for the launch. Karolina joined them moments later having arrived via the passenger tunnel.

5…4…3…2…1!

The mighty engines of Thunderbird 3 fired and it rose up through the silo and through the roundhouse, climbing high into the sky.

"Thunderbird 3 is go!" said Adrienne.

As Thunderbird 3 left the Earth's atmosphere, they went into orbit and headed round to the spot where the capsule had entered the atmosphere. They flew past Thunderbird 5 on the way where Kerry was just finding a rather shocked Kaylee sitting in the lounge. She could see just how spooked she was having seen the capsule.

"I know this must be hard for you," Kerry said. "This is either a dream come true or even a nightmare."

Kaylee looked out the window into deep space. "It was a long-shot mission," she said. "The escape capsules had cryotubes. Is there any chance…?" She broke off, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

Kerry put her hand on Kaylee's shoulder. "It's been ten years, Kaylee," she said. "Daniel's about to open the capsule. If you want to step down from duty, I understand."

Kaylee took a deep breath and stood up, looking somewhat determined. "I've always looked up to my father's legacy," she said. "He carried out his duty - I'd like to do mine."

Kerry nodded. "Fair enough," she said. She pressed her watch which brought up a video link to the camera in Daniel's helmet. Now they could see and hear what he saw and said.

It took some effort, but Daniel managed to pull the door of the capsule open. "We're in!" he said and walked cautiously inside. Jodie followed him whilst the others stayed outside. They were glad that their suits were designed with internal heating pads otherwise they'd be freezing.

Daniel and Jodie found that the three big containers inside were indeed cryotubes. They had to use their own lights to see as the capsule's own power had clearly failed. Daniel's LED light shone onto one of the cryotubes and he jumped back in alarm at the sight of the slightly disfigured body inside it. "One man dead," he told the others. "Grove." He had seen the man's name on the monitoring panel beside the tube.

Jodie almost had the same reaction when she looked at the tube beside her. "Make that two men dead," she said sadly. "This one is McClaine."

Nobody said a word as Daniel and Jodie made their way round to the third tube. Kaylee's heart was in her mouth almost. For a brief moment she wondered whether her father may have found a way to come back to her, but with two men dead in unpowered cryotubes after ten years in space, there really didn't seem any hope now.

Kerry felt uncomfortable by the silence that had fallen over the radio. "Daniel, is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yes, Kerry," Daniel replied. "We…just had to make sure."

"About what?" asked Kerry.

What Daniel then said sent a shockwave through everyone's spines - especially Kaylee's. "The third tube - it's working! It's Commander Adams - and he's alive!"

Kaylee burst into tears and buried her face in her hands. Kerry placed her hand on Kaylee's shoulder, unable to believe what she'd just heard.

Colonel Casey joined the members of International Rescue in the medical bay at the Global Defence Force's Alaska Base. She was just as stumped as the rest of that Commander Adams was even alive. He had been removed from the cryotube and was placed in a special containment room in the medical bay. Kaylee had been dropped down to the base via the space elevator from Thunderbird 5. It was only right that she be there when her father woke up from his decade-long sleep.

"The last time I saw him, it was three months before my birthday," Kaylee told everyone. "But he wasn't going to be around so he gave me my present. July 12th - the day they lost the _Endeavor II_ , and I never opened it. Never celebrated another birthday all these years."

Daniel put his hand on Kaylee's shoulder. He could see she was tearing up again.

Rosie had been inside with the GDF doctors examining Commander Adams. She came out to give them her verdict. "This is an unusual one," she said. "Blood tests and body scans show that he is in perfect health. Remarkable for someone who's been out in space all this time."

"I don't suppose you'll know when he'll wake up, do you?" asked Colonel Casey.

Rosie shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she said. "Could be hours or days. I honestly could not say for certain."

"Pity we can't wait around," said Daniel. "Our services might be needed elsewhere." He then spoke to Kaylee. "Take all the time off that you need," he said. "When he wakes up he's going to have a lot of catching up to do. I trust you can help him?"

Kaylee nodded. "Of course, Mr Tracy," she said. "Thank you."

The International Rescue team returned to their ships and lifted off before heading back towards Tracy Island.

"Poor Kaylee," said Wizzy. "This is going to be really hard for them."

"Agreed," said Daniel. He had noticed that Leanna had barely said a word for the past few hours. He could guess why. Like Kaylee, Leanna had no parents. Both hadn't been seen since the day she was kidnapped and her town was destroyed by the supervillain known as The Shocker. Clearly she was wondering whether her parents were still alive. If Kaylee's dad could return after so long, maybe they would one day as well.

The radio bleeped and Kerry appeared on the hologram screen. "We have another situation," she said. "High winds have apparently trapped a climber somewhere in the Everest region."

"Thunderbird 1, you're quicker," said Daniel. "See what you can do to help."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," answered Beth. "See you back home. Afterburners on!"

Thunderbird 1 accelerated away into the distance. No sooner had it gone when Thunderbird 2's radar picked up an unusual object heading in the opposite direction on their port side. Looking over Leanna saw one of the most peculiar-looking aircraft she'd ever seen. "What the hell is that?" she asked.

The others looked over at the strange black bird-like aircraft as it passed them. It had a large L-shaped symbol on its fuselage.

"Ugh - Luthor!" Jodie said with a slight grimace. "No doubt he's going to reclaim what he thinks is his."

"The capsule?" asked Wizzy.

Jodie nodded. "We be prepared, Mr Tracy," she said. "I have a bad feeling he might try and claim Commander Adams belongs to him, too."

"He can't do that…can he?" asked Cassidy.

"With Lex Luthor, expect the ridiculous," Daniel said. He then changed frequencies. "This is Thunderbird 2 calling Thunderbird 3 - do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Thunderbird 2," answered Adrienne. "How are things on Earth?"

"We moved the escape capsule to the GDF base in Alaska and left Kaylee with Colonel Casey to await to awakening of Commander Adams," Daniel said. "How's the hunt going?"

"Nothing so far," Adrienne said. "Karolina's taking a nap. Laura seems happier than a child in a sweet shop!"

Laura appeared on the screen. "I'm just glad to be aboard one of the ships again," she said. "It's been too long."

Daniel smiled. "Glad to see you're enjoying yourself, Laura," he said. "Let us know if you find anything. Thunderbird 2, out."

Thunderbird 1 soon reached the Everest region and Beth began scanning the area for any sign of the missing climber.

"Do you see them?" Daniel asked.

"Negative, Thunderbird 2," Beth replied. "I don't see anyone anywhere."

"It's okay, Thunderbird 1," Kerry broke in. "Just received word a rescue helicopter found the climber about five minutes ago. He's being taken to safety."

"Ah, fair enough," said Beth sounding relieved. "I'll head back to base."

"F-A-B," said Kerry.

But as Thunderbird 1 climbed away from the mountains, there was a sudden flash of bright white blinding light that filled the sky. "What the?!" exclaimed Beth. "AARRGGHHH!"

The sudden flash of light didn't just affect Thunderbird 1. It was also felt by Thunderbirds 2 and 5, Tracy Island and the whole side of the planet that was currently in daylight.

"What the hell was that?" asked Leanna when the light subsided.

Nobody knew. They blinked and to regain their focus.

"Kerry, what was that?" Daniel asked. But to his surprise, Kerry didn't reply. "Thunderbird 5? Kerry, are you there?"

Still no answer, and then Katie noticed why. "Er…Dad?"

Daniel looked at the instrument panels. Nothing was working. All the lights on the dials, switches and other controls had completely gone out.

"Oh, my God - we're gonna die!" gasped Cassidy.

"No, we're not," Katie said. "We're…still airborne!"

Katie was right. Despite the complete instrument blackout, Thunderbird 2 wasn't falling out of the sky and was still heading forwards. However, Daniel quickly brought the craft into a hover. The controls were still working, just not being displayed.

"Well, this is strange," said Daniel as Jodie came up to the front. "What do you make of it?"

"I have no idea, Mr Tracy," Jodie replied. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Did that light cause this?" asked Leanna.

"It must have done," Jodie said. "Try rebooting everything except the engines."

So Daniel and Katie did, and everything came back. As it did, several radio calls came in at once.

"Daniel, come in!" Joanne's voice was first.

"Thunderbird 2, respond please!" Kerry was second.

"Thunderbirds 2 and 5, can you hear me?" Beth was the last.

"Guys, calm down, we're here!" Daniel barked. "Are you all okay?"

"Fine physically," said Joanne. "What the hell happened?"

"Solar flare," said Kerry. "A big one."

"Of course!" Beth exclaimed. "How could I not have realised that? This is just like the one I encountered in Thunderbird 3 - only this one didn't reach Earth."

"That shut you down completely though, Beth," said Jodie. "This one only shut down our communications."

"It's not just us," Kerry said gravely. "It's affected the whole side of the planet that's currently in daylight. All communications and some power grids have been knocked out completely! Yet it hasn't affected engines and other mechanical equipment. All aircraft are still in the sky and are slowly getting back in touch with all ATCs. It's a miracle there have been no mid-air collisions."

"I'll say!" said Daniel. Then a thought struck him. "What about the GDF base we just come from?"

"Haven't tried there," said Kerry. "Hold on." She checked her scanners. "Everything looks to be fine," she said. "I guess if there are any problems they'll let us know."

"Fine," said Daniel. "Let's get home. I need a drink."

"Be with you shortly," Beth said from Thunderbird 1.

The GDF base had been lucky. The mysterious solar flare hadn't reached it and everything was still working properly. Colonel Casey wasn't even aware that such an event had taken place. She had other things on her mind right now like the arrival of the LexCorp jet.

As she waited for Lex Luthor to disembark, a soldier came running up. "Colonel Casey?"

"Not now, soldier, I'm busy!" barked Colonel Casey.

"Ma'am, there's been a major…"

"I said NOT NOW, SOLDIER!" Casey snapped. "Are you deaf or something?"

The soldier backed away, trying to hide the hurt feelings.

Colonel Casey wasn't usually like this with her staff, but right now she was rather edgy. She wasn't a fan of Lex Luthor either and knew that the next however many minutes he'd be at the base, she wouldn't be happy again until he was heading back to his base of operations in Los Angeles - and without causing any problems.

The ramp was lowered and two armed men came out. They were followed down by a brown-haired woman in a lilac suit with a red tie and then came the man himself. The light shone off the top of Lex Luthor's head and his black suit seemed as smooth as silk.

"Colonel Casey," said Luthor as he approached the commander. "Long time no see."

"Yes," replied Colonel Casey shortly. "What is it you want?"

"I want to see Commander Adams," said Luthor. "I have some questions for him."

"Sorry to disappoint you," said Colonel Casey. "But Commander Adams hasn't woken up yet."

Luthor frowned. "He hasn't?" he asked. "That's a pity. Still, can I see him?"

Colonel Casey hesitated. "Fine," she said and led the way to the Medical Centre.

Kaylee was in the room where her father was being kept in a special container. It was to help feed him oxygen and slowly wake him up after his long sleep.

"Daddy," Kaylee said quietly placing her hand on the glass. "Where have you been? What happened to you?"

The doors opened and Colonel Casey entered followed by Luthor and his assistant.

"You!" Kaylee said hotly when she saw Luthor. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, Miss Adams," replied Luthor. "How is your father?"

"What's it to you?" snapped Kaylee.

"That's enough," Colonel Casey said causing Kaylee to be quiet.

Luthor stood over the container and looked down at Commander Adams. "Fascinating!" he said. "Look, Mercy. He hasn't aged a bit. Those cryotubes worked perfectly. We'll have to conduct some tests back at the lab."

Colonel Casey and Kaylee stared at Luthor.

"I beg your pardon?" Colonel Casey said stepping forwards. "You are not going to..."

WHACK! Luthor's assistant swung her arm round and knocked Colonel Casey back into the wall. She fell to the floor unconscious. Kaylee screamed in fright but was quickly silenced by one of Luthor's guards. Her muffled squeals were ignored as Luthor turned to Mercy. "A shame to get her involved too, but so be it," Luthor said. "But we can't let her tell anyone."

"We take her too?" asked Mercy.

"Yes," said Luthor. "Take her to the ship. Have Commander Adams' container and the pod loaded as well. And make sure there's nobody who can follow us."

Luthor had his own army aboard his personal aircraft. Soon the GDF was under heavy fire and soldiers from both sides battled each other. In the middle of it all, some of Luthor's soldiers moved the escape capsule into the cargo hold along with the container with Commander Adams inside whilst Kaylee, who had her hands tied behind her back and the hand of Mercy clamped tightly over her mouth, was marched up the walkway into Luthor's aircraft. Once the soldiers had finished taking down all the GDF personnel and disabling the vehicles present, they reboarded the LexWing and took to the sky once more leaving over eight dozen lifeless bodies behind.

Luthor believed he'd escaped by leaving no survivors. It would be several hours before anyone realised that something was wrong, or so he thought. But Colonel Casey hadn't been killed like all the others. She moaned and tried to get up but couldn't. So she reached for the watch on her wrist. "Must…get…back…up…" she moaned and managed to push the face before passing out again.

The signal from Colonel Casey's watch not only alerted the other GDF bases, but it would also be detected by Thunderbird 5.

Kerry was surprised by the alert. "Thunderbird 5 to GDF Base Alaska. We're picking up your alert. What's the situation?" Nobody replied, which made Kerry very suspicious. She looked at the holomap. Thunderbird 2 was almost back at Tracy Island with Thunderbird 1 not far behind. She sighed. "They're not going to like this," she said. "Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbirds 1 and 2. I'm getting an alert from the GDF Alaska base and nobody answered my call. Something is wrong out there."

"Seriously?" groaned Wizzy. "We're almost home!"

"Katie's what our fuel status?" asked Daniel.

"Got just over half a tank left," Katie replied.

"That's more than plenty," said Daniel. "Thunderbird 1, change course. We're going back to Alaska."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," said Beth. "I'll fly ahead and see what the trouble is."

"Negative, Beth," interrupted Jodie. "If this alert is what I think it is, then we'll both need to go in together."

"Understood," said Beth.

The two Thunderbirds formed up and raced as fast as they would go back towards the GDF base. The two crews hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Katrina and Becky joined Kerry as she searched for satellite images of the GDF base. What they found shocked them. Katrina's hand flew over her mouth.

"Guys, you need to see this," Kerry said sending the images to Thunderbirds 1 and 2.

The crews were equally shocked.

"Oh...my...God!" gasped Sian, Rosie, Leanna and Wizzy all at the same time. Katie, Daniel, Beth, Jodie and Cassidy were too shocked to even exclaim at the images of the damaged buildings and burning vehicles, not to mention the amount of bodies lying all over the place.

"Kerry, how many?" Daniel asked.

Kerry scanned for life-signs. Her response was grim. "Only one," she said. "And it would appear to be Colonel Casey."

Then Becky realised something. "Kaylee!" she gasped. "She was there, too!"

This sent a sickening chill down everyone's spines.

"Why did we leave?" Daniel asked breaking the silence. "We could've prevented this!"

"Luthor!" said Jodie with gritted teeth. "I'll bet my boots that he's behind this!"

"Monster!" hissed Rosie angrily.

Everyone grimaced in agreement.


	4. Act III

Kaylee found herself being marched through the middle of the LexWing. She was taken to one of the support columns by Mercy before being securely tied to it with black tape. She watched as two other soldiers wheeled in the container with her father inside watched closely by Luthor.

"Observe, Miss Adams - a remarkable survivor," Luthor was saying. "Your father is a brave man. Although why he ejected from his ship remains a mystery. One which I intend to find out. The Jupiter mission was expensive. I had hoped he would return with results. Clearly that was not the case."

"Let me go!" Kaylee said. "You really think kidnapping the two of us will get you what you want? I have powerful friends who will come after you!"

Luthor chuckled. "Powerful friends, you say?" He moved closer to where Kaylee was bound. "Let them come. I too have powerful friends and they never fail to get me results."

Kaylee spat in Luthor's face and Mercy went to slap her in retaliation.

"NO!" Luthor shouted grabbing Mercy's arm with his right hand and wiping his face with a handkerchief. "Just keep her quiet until we get back to base." He turned and walked away.

Mercy and Kaylee glared at each other. "Don't ever spit in his face again!" Mercy growled.

"Screw you!" Kaylee spat back.

Mercy tore off another piece of tape and placed it firmly over Kaylee's mouth to stop her from speaking any further. Kaylee began grunting in annoyance as Mercy walked away to join Luthor in his office. Kaylee looked over at the container. Her father was still asleep, but right now she didn't want him to wake up, knowing he'd be waking up to his worst nightmare - his own daughter held captive for what she suspected would probably be blackmail. Luthor would use Kaylee to force her father into talking. She tried tugging at her bonds but they were too tight. All she could do now was wait and hope that somehow her colleagues at International Rescue would realise where she was and come after her.

It didn't take long for the Thunderbirds to arrive at the base. Their incredible speeds meant that they arrived before any GDF reinforcements had.

After splitting up and searching the base in pairs, Daniel and Leanna found Colonel Casey in the Medical Centre. She was just coming round and looked very shaken. "Daniel!" she gasped when she saw her friend's face. "I knew you would come."

"Martha - what happened here?" Daniel asked.

"Lex Luthor," said Colonel Casey. "He was planning to…" She broke off and looked across the room at the spot where Commander Adams' container had been. "He's taken them!"

"Them?" Daniel asked.

"He told his assistant that he wanted to learn how Adams had survived for so long," Colonel Casey said. "He must've taken Kaylee, too!"

"Dad, the escape capsule from the Endeavor II has gone," Wizzy said over the radio.

"He must have taken that as well," said Leanna.

"Wait, if he took Kaylee…" Daniel said thoughtfully. "Kerry, have you looked for Kaylee's locator beacon?"

"You mean she's not still there?" Kerry asked.

"Negative, she's not," said Daniel. "Luthor's taken the container with her father in. At a guess he must have her as well."

So Kerry started searching for Kaylee's watch beacon. And it didn't take long for her to get a signal. "Bingo!" she said. "She's heading south along the West Coast of America."

"They must be heading for LexCorp headquarters in LA," said Colonel Casey. "You have to get them back."

"Dad, GDF reinforcements are arriving," Beth said over Daniel's radio.

"Good, they can help here," said Daniel. "Beth, get back into Thunderbird 1 and go after that plane of Luthor's. Track it until we can catch up. He's not getting away with this!"

"F-A-B!" said Beth determinedly as she raced back to Thunderbird 1.

Thunderbird 3 had travelled thousands of miles across space, deeper than it had ever gone before. The journey was uneventful and fortunately they had been lucky to avoid the sudden solar flare. Now Laura, Adrienne and Karolina could gaze in awe at the sight before them - Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system.

"Wow!" gasped Laura. "I never thought I'd get this close to another planet."

"Are we at the end of the trail?" asked Karolina.

Adrienne checked the monitor screen. "As a matter of fact, we reached the end of it roughly an hour ago," she said.

They looked around, but all they could see around them was empty space apart from the big gas planet in front of them.

"Looks like this was just a wild goose chase after all," said Adrienne.

Laura glanced over to the side and then something caught her eye. "Maybe not," she said.

Karolina and Adrienne looked over. Then they saw it too - a large chunk of what looked like metal was simply floating nearby.

"Hmm - there's some more over there," Karolina observed.

Adrienne opened the radio link. "Thunderbird 5, we may have come across something," she said. "We're going in for a closer look."

Thunderbird 3 turned and moved slowly towards the piece of metal. As they drew alongside, Adrienne put the craft into free-float and went to get her helmet. Karolina and Laura put theirs on too so that they wouldn't suffocate when the door opened.

"Commencing EVA," said Adrienne as she exited Thunderbird 3 on her spaceboard. Laura and Karolina watched as she headed over to the metal to examine it. At the same time, a camera in Adrienne's helmet relayed live images back to Thunderbird 5 for Kerry to see. "Are you seeing all this?" Adrienne asked.

"Affirmative," Kerry replied. "Looks like letters or something, but it's hard to see what."

"Try looking at it the other way round?" suggested Laura.

Adrienne looked back at Thunderbird 3 and then turned herself upside down. Now the letters were more understandable. "Hmm - Echo, Alpha and what looks like part of a V," she said.

" _Endeavour_?" asked Laura.

"Yes!" said Kerry. "It has to be."

"So where's the rest of it?" asked Karolina.

Adrienne returned to the cockpit. "There's more debris up ahead. Let's go take a look at it," she said.

Thunderbird 3 moved slowly forwards passing the pieces of floating debris. All the pieces were smaller than the first piece that they'd discovered.

"That's a lot of debris," remarked Karolina. "But what could've caused it?"

"An explosion?" suggested Laura. "That would be my guess."

"But if there was, it would have to have happened after the crew ejected," said Adrienne. "Something must have happened on board that forced them to eject."

"There!" said Karolina suddenly pointing.

Adrienne and Laura looked and let out a small gasp. Adrienne quickly brought Thunderbird 3 to a stop. Ahead of them stood the largest piece of debris of all. It was unmistakably the rest of the _Endeavour II_ \- but its whole stern section where the engines would've been located was missing.

"God, that's a mess!" said Laura. "Must have been an explosion."

"Thunderbird 5, you may not believe this, but we've found the _Endeavour II_ ," said Adrienne. "Or at least, what's left of it. Sending you a visual."

"Oh, my!" exclaimed Kerry when she saw the remains of the _Endeavour II_. "What a mess!"

"Should we investigate further?" asked Adrienne.

"Yes, maybe you can find some clues," said Kerry. "Take Karolina in with you."

"F-A-B," said Adrienne. She and Karolina then donned their helmets and headed out on the spaceboard again leaving Laura alone in the cockpit.

"They're heading across now, Kerry," Laura said. "Can I speak to Dad?"

"Not right now, Laura," Kerry said. "He's pre-occupied at the moment."

"Another mission?" asked Laura.

"Yes," said Kerry. "To save Kaylee and Commander Adams from Lex Luthor!"

Laura gasped. "Lex Luthor? What's he got to do with this?"

"He funded that mission, Laura," said Kerry. "He attacked the GDF base, abducted kaylee and her father and had his men kill everyone there. Only Colonel Casey survived."

Laura was horrified. "The sick b-"

"We're in," Adrienne said cutting off Laura's sentence.

"F-A-B, Adie," said Kerry. "Be careful in there."

Leaving the space-board attached to the hull by a small cable, Adrienne and Karolina entered the remains of the _Endeavour II_ using their magnetic boots to walk along the floor as there was no artificial gravity inside the vessel. It was dark and eerie but everything looked as pristine and as clean as though it was brand new. As they made their way through towards the cockpit, they could see nothing that would indicate any trouble that would have caused the crew to eject. They knew from having studied hologram blueprints that the escape pods would have been located in the middle of the ship, ironically around the point that where the destruction had started.

"This doesn't make any sense," said Karolina. "There must have been something that caused all this destruction."

"My guess would be a meteor," said Adrienne. "If only there was a Black-Box or something similar to that."

"Black-Box?" asked Karolina. "You mean like on other aircraft?"

"Correct," said Adrienne.

"They'd be in the cockpit if there are any," said Laura who had been listening in. "Perhaps it has a CVR in there too."

"The Cockpit Voice Recorder,?" said Adrienne. "That could help too." She went into the cockpit and looked around under the control panels whilst Karolina examined the walls of the relaxation area behind the cockpit.

Karolina felt uneasy as she looked at the empty room. It was hard to imagine that a group of men had once called this ship their home. Then she spotted something unusual. It seemed the pristine clean walls weren't as pristine as first seen. Karolina ran her fingers along a section of the wall that was blacker than the rest of it. "That's odd," she remarked as she examined it more closely with the scanner in her helmet. "Looks like fire damage."

"Karolina, I've found them," Adrienne said. "I need your help."

Karolina went back to the cockpit and found Adrienne had dismantled both the Flight Data Recorder and the Cockpit Voice Recorder. She took the Cockpit Recorder whilst Karolina took the Data one. Together they returned them to Thunderbird 3.

"Nice recovery," Laura complimented. "Let's hope we can find something out with these."

"I found what looked like fire damage," Karolina said. "Just towards where the break is."

Adrienne and Laura looked at each other. Maybe that was the answer.

Luthor was getting frustrated. Commander Adams had still not woken up from his coma and his men were having trouble getting the hatch of the escape capsule open. Since being closed after the removal of its occupants, the hatch had jammed and wouldn't open again.

"I don't care what it takes," Luthor said. "I want to know how it got back to Earth. Get your backs into it!"

Kaylee watched everything from where she was tied. She was beginning to wonder whether the others would find her as they were taking a lot longer than she'd predicted. Little did she know that the signal from her watch was leading them right to her,

Luthor's ship was designed to avoid detection by radar and to detect anything else. This was the same method that International Rescue used, only theirs was a lot more advanced and perfected than his was. As a result, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 closed in behind the LexWing without anyone even realising that they were there.

Kerry used Thunderbird 5's powerful scanners to look inside Luthor's ship and locate where Kaylee was. "She's in the main laboratory located in the middle of the aircraft," she told Daniel. "It is my guess that that is where her father and possibly even the escape capsule are located."

"The capsule's not important," Daniel said. "Rescuing Kaylee and her father are the priority. Luthor will be dealt with by the GDF. Colonel Casey has made him her number one priority."

A few miles behind the Thunderbirds, a squadron of GDF flyers and fighters were getting ready to take on Luthor and his forces. They knew that he was a man of pride and would stop at nothing to keep what he considered to be his own.

"We'll let International Rescue do what they have to do," Colonel Casey explained to her crews. "Then we shall move in and take down Lex Luthor, once and for all!"

Scans from Thunderbird 5 showed that there was only one way that the LexWing could be boarded in secret - through a hatch on the top of the aircraft. It would be too risky for anyone from Thunderbird 2 to attempt the jump down so it was agreed that Beth would do it from Thunderbird 1.

Daniel watched from his seat in Thunderbird 2 as Thunderbird 1 was cautiously positioned over the top of the LexWing.

"I have a visual on the hatch," said Beth once Thunderbird 1's pilot seat had been lowered. "The autopilot is active and I'm going down."

"Be careful, Beth," said Daniel. "Don't engage any hostiles unless you have to."

"F-A-B, Dad," replied Beth. She jumped down from Thunderbird 1 and landed safely next to the hatch. She managed to open it successfully and dropped down inside before sealing it up again. She hoped that it wasn't connected to the cockpit otherwise they'd be alerted to it having been open. "Okay, Kerry, I'm inside," she said. "Where to?"

"The main laboratory is right underneath you," Kerry replied. She was monitoring Beth via a large hologram schematic of the LexWing. "It links to the cargo bay and ramp located at the rear of the aircraft. You'll need to find the controls of the ramp and open it so that Thunderbird 2 can do its thing."

"Understood," said Beth. "I'll see if I can eyeball Kaylee and her father whilst I'm at it."

Beth made her way down the corridor and down a ladder to a walkway above the laboratory. This was normally Karolina's job, but with her off the planet currently it was up to her to do it. As she looked down she could see Luthor and Mercy watching the men trying to cut their way into the capsule on her left. On her right she saw the container with Commander Adams inside, and just beyond she saw Kaylee still tugging against her bonds. Beth wanted to report to the others but she felt that talking might give her away so she remained silent. However she made her way across the gantries until she was close to where Kayle was tied. Kaylee happened to look upwards and spotted Beth. Her eyes widened and tried to speak but Beth made a 'shhh' sign which silenced her. Beth then glanced over to make sure Luthor was occupied before making her way towards the cargo bay and the door.

"Kerry, I'm by the cargo door," Beth said. "Kaylee is tied to a support beam close to the container holding her father. Luthor has got his men cutting into the capsule."

"So he's distracted?" asked Kerry.

"Affirmative," Beth replied. "Thunderbird 2, are you ready?"

"Ready and waiting," Daniel replied. "Katie?"

"All set," said Katie.

"Girls?" Daniel then asked.

"Ready, Dad," said Wizzy. She, Leanna, Cassidy, Sian, Jodie and Rosie were all in the pod with their helmets on ready to carry out their part of the recovery plan.

"All's ready," said Daniel. "Carry on, Beth."

"F-A-B!" said Beth. She went to press the button on the cargo door.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Beth spun round to see one of the guards hurrying towards her. His shout alerted Luthor and the others were also alerted by the shout.

"What's going on, Leroy?" Luthor demanded as he headed towards the door.

"GET AWAY FROM THOSE CONTROLS!" the guard shouted at Beth.

But Beth knew there was no time to waste. "Sorry, buddy, can't let you stop us!" she said. Her reflexes were too quick for the guard as she pulled out her own gun and blasted him with a stun-shot before throwing her left fist at the button.

"Stop! NO!" shouted Luthor when he saw what Beth was about to do.

But it was too late. An alarm rang out and the door began to open as it did so a huge whoosh of air entered the aircraft and a powerful suction began to pull anything not secured towards it. Luckily for Beth, her magnetic boots kept her attached firmly to the floor. Kaylee was surprisingly okay as well due to being tied. Luthor and his people weren't so fortunate and several of the guards and scientists were pulled out of the aircraft due to the suction.

From inside Thunderbird 2, Daniel and Katie could see all the people flying out.

"Er, Dad, shouldn't we do something about them?" asked Katie.

"They'll live," said Daniel. "We're only a mile above the surface of the sea." He then spoke into the radio. "Martha, we've begun, but you'd better get some of your people to recover all the ones who are falling into the sea right now."

"Understood, Daniel," Colonel Casey replied. "Sending two Flyers in now to recover them all. Don't worry, nobody's escaping from us."

Luthor and Mercy had been able to grab onto a metal railing to stop themselves being pulled out by the suction but holding on was difficult. Looking back, they could see Thunderbird 2 getting into position and lowering the pod out via the cables. Beth used her magnetic boots to walk back to the laboratory past where they were.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" Luthor roared. "MERCY, KILL HER!"

Holding on with one hand, Mercy grabbed one of her side-arms but Beth fired another one of her stun-shots which caused Mercy to let go. She screamed as the suction pulled her out.

"MERCY!" yelled Luthor but there was nothing he could do.

Mercy didn't fall to the sea but instead was thrown right into Pod 2. As she sat in a minor daze, she found herself looking up at Leanna. She had lost her first gun so quickly pulled out her second only for Leanna to kick it out of her hand. Mercy jumped to her feet but Leanna spun around and kicked her backwards into one of the pods and knocking her out.

"Leanna!" Jodie shouted. "We need you!"

Leanna hurried back over. "Sorry, Jodie. I couldn't let her interfere," she said.

Beth had reached Kaylee and peeled the tape off her mouth. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Don't mind about me," Kaylee replied. "Get my father out first!"

Wizzy and Cassidy had positioned a special clamp gun to the floor on one side of the pod door whilst Leanna and Sian had done the same on the other side. They managed to get a lock onto the container that held Commander Adams and fired the clamps to it. Beth was standing beside ready to attach them.

"Clamps secure, Wizzy," Beth said.

"F-A-B, Beth," Wizzy replied. "Reel it in!"

The clamp winches were reversed and they began to pull the container through the ship.

"No, no, NO!" Luthor shouted. "YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT, IT'S MINE!"

Beth ignored Luthor and proceeded to cut Kaylee free of her bonds. "Hang onto me tight," she said as she activated her jetpack. Kaylee held on tightly as beth carried her through the ship towards the exit. Kaylee watched with relief as the container was pulled safely into Pod 2 and the door closed up. Then the pod was pulled back into Thunderbird 2 and the craft pulled away.

Luthor could do nothing but watch as Beth and Kaylee exited the LexWing. Then the railing he was holding onto broke away and he went flying across the room. However he did not end up being sucked out and instead found himself next to the door controls. Frantically he managed to press the button that closed the door. This did not go unnoticed aboard Thunderbird 2.

"The door has closed," said Daniel. "Someone must have closed it."

"And Luthor is still inside," said Katie. "He was the only one in that area not to get pulled out."

"Pull away," said Daniel. "Thunderbird 1, high speed and change course. I have a feeling we made get fired upon!"

"F-A-B, Dad," said Beth. She'd just finished securing Kaylee into one of the passenger seats before jumping back into the pilot seat.

Luthor scrambled into the cockpit of the LexWing where the three pilots were wondering what to do.

"Shoot them!" Luthor demanded.

"Which ones?" asked one of the pilots.

"ALL OF THEM, YOU IDIOT!" Luthor bellowed furiously. "THEY MUST PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!"

But as the LexWing began to turn, something very unexpected happened. The heat from the cutting torches and the vibrations due to the air being sucked out had caused a small electrical fire inside the escape capsule. Suddenly, it exploded ripping a colossal hole in the bottom of the LexWing. Alarms blared in the cockpit and Luthor was thrown off his feet as the pilots battled for control.

Alerted by the explosion, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 turned round again. The crews watched in alarm as the LexWing made a sharp turn to the left and began to lose altitude with a huge plume of black smoke pouring out from underneath it. It was clearly too badly damaged for it to remain in the air.

"It's going down!" exclaimed Beth.

"Relax, Thunderbird 1, it's heading towards San Francisco Bay," said Daniel. "It'll simply crash-land in the water."

"No, it won't!" Kerry said abruptly over the radio. "Guys, you have to do something fast!"

"Why?" asked Katie. "That man doesn't deserve our help!"

"No, but those people on the bridge do!" barked Kerry.

Daniel looked out of the windows and quickly realised what Kerry meant. "Oh…shit!"

The LexWing was on a direct collision course with the Golden Gate Bridge. The situation had just got a whole lot worse for International Rescue.

On the bridge, people stuck in the rush-hour traffic jams were completely unaware of the giant black flying object on fire that was plummeting towards them at a horrendous speed. A family of four sat in a car on the side of the bridge facing the Pacific Ocean. The dad was driving looking frustrated. His wife sat in the passenger seat looking bored. The two young boys in the back weren't bored at all. They were pretending to shoot at invisible enemy targets using their hands in the shape of machine-guns when they suddenly noticed people in the car next to them getting out and pointing.

"Ha! We got them scared!" laughed one of the boys.

But the mother had noticed other people were getting out of their cars and pointing, too. She turned to look and nearly screamed in fright. "Oh, my God, what is that?!"

The dad and the two sons now saw the burning LexWing too. It was getting lower and lower and would be at the bridge in no less than a minute.

Luthor could see where they heading for too, but he was no longer concerned. "Excellent!" he said. "That'll teach them for meddling in my affairs."

Before the pilots could do or say anything, Luthor rushed to a nearby escape pod and ejected from the falling aircraft.

"MR LUTHOR!" yelled one of the pilots.

"He left us!" cried another. "The SON-OF-A-BITCH LEFT US!"

The Thunderbirds crews saw the small escape pod ejecting from the LexWing.

"Luthor!" Daniel growled. "The coward!"

"I'm going after him!" Beth said, adjusting the controls of Thunderbird 1 as she did so.

"No, Thunderbird 1!" Daniel barked. "We'll need you! Thunderbird 5, can you track him?"

"Already on it, Thunderbird 2," answered Kerry. "We'll deal with him later. Just stop that plane from hitting the bridge!"

Daniel looked out at the falling LexWing and the large suspension bridge with hundreds of trapped people on it. He didn't need to look at any of the others for he knew they were all thinking the exact same thing as he was. "This isn't going to end well!"


End file.
